Saint Pius V: Pope of The Holy Rosary. By C. M. Antony. Part 10.

CHAPTER VIII. THE POPE OF THE HOLY ROSARY. (1566-1572.)

"The great triumph of Lepanto," says a French writer, "would alone have immortalized St. Pius V." Its importance will be better realized when it is remembered the Turk had never hitherto been conquered by sea. "The Battle of Lepanto arrested for ever the danger of Mohammedan invasion in the South of Europe." 1 And Lepanto had been won by prayer!2

As a simple friar, St. Pius, true to the spirit of his Order, had ever held the balance even between the life of prayer and the life of action. As Inquisitor, as Cardinal, as Pope, it was the same. Neither suffered at the expense of the other. No biography of the Saint, however brief, which did not emphasise this fact, would be complete. Most perfectly had he mastered that hard saying which bids us leave God for God.

As Pope, his first care, as we have seen, was the reform of the clergy. Like a second Phinees he sternly repressed the intolerable scandals common even among those in high places; the most fruitful causes, as he well knew, of heresy. But at the same time he legislated for the rights of the Church, while many a poor prelate was relieved of the burden of annates, 3 and many a priest had cause to bless his generosity. His Cardinals (whom he allowed to speak freely in Consistory, and from whom St. Pius accepted criticisms and even correction) were so impressed by the austerity of his life that many began to imitate it. He trained young and deserving priests for the office of bishop, and appointed them all over the world. To all clergy he upheld the standard of perfection, and one of his chief titles to honour is that in hundreds of cases his example caused it to be earnestly desired.

He would never allow money to be accepted by prelates for dispensations, which he did not grant easily, quoting the famous dictum of the Council of Trent: "raro: pro causa: gratis" ; 4 and it was only when, before Lepanto, he was implored to do so, that he consented to the sale of dignities and offices—(such as that of Chamberlain, for which Cardinal Alexandrin received 70,000 crowns)—to equip the fleet.

Like all true enthusiasts St. Pius was generous to a fault! He emptied his coffers for the poor, whom he sincerely loved. His charity to the English Catholic exiles, already flocking to Rome and other continental centres, 5 was practically boundless. He revised the jail regulations, and forbade imprisonment for debt—a most important measure.

To the unhappy Christian slaves who had been snatched from the power of the Turk, St. Pius ever showed himself a tender father. At his own expense all who came to Rome were housed, clothed, and sent to their own homes. When in 1566 Rome was ravaged by the plague the Saint organized (on modern lines) a committee to distribute money, food, and medical assistance to the sufferers; going himself to the poorest streets, and finding time to comfort the mourners as well as to encourage the sick. He paid for a large staff of doctors, and appointed a number of priests solely to hear the confessions of the dying, and to bury the dead. To the hospital of Sto. Spirito alone he gave 25,000 crowns at this crisis. It was for his beloved poor that St. Pius encouraged the foundation in Rome of a house of the Brothers of St. John of God. 6 Nor did he stop here. Seeing with grief the number of unemployed in Rome, the Saint started public works for their benefit. A woollen-mill which he thus founded was in existence in 1892. He discovered that convicts were habitually kept in the galleys after their sentence had expired. He forbade this utterly. No wonder the poor loved him!

One most touching detail of his secret charity has come down to us. On his study table there always lay a little purse filled with golden crowns " reserved for urgent cases ... or for once wealthy families fallen into want". His generosity was tempered by discretion. The little purse was continually refilled, but only the Pope knew how it was emptied! "I am the Father of all my children" he would say, with his rare, exquisite smile; " and I must provide for them!" In contrast, it may be noted that the daily expenses of his own table—" the poorest served in Rome "—did not amount to more than 16 soldi. 7

His generosity, however, was not confined to almsgiving. After his accession the Count della Trinita, the nobleman who had once threatened to throw the Saint down a well, came to Rome as Envoy of the Duke of Milan. His confusion can be imagined when St. Pius—who immediately recognized him—said to him with much kindness; " See, my son, how God protects the weak!" Catching sight one day of the peasant in whose hut he had taken shelter on the night of his flight from Bergamo, he sent for him, thanked him publicly, and presented him with a handsome sum of money. The peasant, who did not recognize the Pope, was stupefied. But St. Pius reminded him of the story, and of the fact that his two little daughters would now be old enough to think of their dowry. He sent them 500 francs each, and lodged the peasant in the Vatican the whole time the good man stayed in Rome!

The Conventuals (Franciscans) held their General Chapter in Rome. St. Pius recognized among them that same Fra Aurelio to whom he had committed the process against the heretic bishop. He invited him to remain at the Vatican, covered him with kind attentions, and shortly after appointed him to a vacant bishopric.

His delicate courtesy to the family of his old friend Paul IV is matter of history. Recalling those who had been exiled unjustly he reinstated the Caraffa family in its former dignities. The evil-doers were dead, the scandals forgotten. The body of Paul IV, removed from its temporary grave, was placed in a magnificent tomb at the Minerva, in presence of the Pontifical Court, of all the civil tribunals of Rome, and of every religious body. Attendance at the magnificent ceremony was compulsory. "In this he showed himself incomparable! " 8 St. Pius ordered a requiem to be sung for the soul of Paul IV on each anniversary of his death. Gratitude was one of his predominant virtues.

St. Pius loved all religious, but above all, his own Order. He granted many privileges to all, individual as well as general, besides making generous offerings. It is to St. Pius that St. Francis owes the magnificent Church of Our Lady of the Angels at Assisi, built over the little Portiuncula. He hated scandal, and took all possible means to repress it. So great was his fear of becoming himself an occasion of calumny that he would not allow any of his nearest relations to come to Rome unless charged with some special office, lest the ignorant should imagine he was enriching his own people with the goods of the Church. And when they did come, he was very severe! One of his nephews who had fought at Lepanto subsequently behaved badly in a position of trust. St. Pius sent for him, and lit a taper as he entered the room. "You will leave Rome" he remarked, " before that candle is burnt out! " The young man was wise enough to obey.

In spite of his severity " the Saint welcomed everyone with the greatest charity, speaking to all with great kindness, and never sending anyone away discontented. Were he obliged to refuse a request he always gave his reasons for so doing, and made no secret of his regret." One of his visitors was an old peasant, who appeared one day, dressed in the Lombard costume, with a little barrel of wine on his shoulder. "Your Holiness does not recognize me ? " asked the old man. " Do you remember how, when you and I were boys at Bosco, we planted a vine together, and you said: 1 Probably neither of us will ever drink of its wine ? ' Your Holiness must acknowledge that on that occasion you were not infallible, for here is a little barrel of red wine, made from that very vine by my own hands! " St. Pius did remember, and his pleasure at seeing his old friend may be imagined. He sent him away laden with gifts.

Such are a few instances of the details which filled the time of the Saint when he was not occupied with affairs of world-wide importance. Of his inner life of prayer less can be said, for it was hid in Christ. Its outward manifestations, however, were patent. Some have already been mentioned. Till his death the holy Pope slept on a hard straw mattress in his Dominican habit of coarse white serge. Beneath this he wore always a cruel hair-shirt " His anger," says one who knew him, " was of short duration, and soon gave way to kindness. His kindest acts were performed towards those who had injured him."

St. Pius had enemies. His holy severity, his relentless opposition to evil-doers could not fail to produce them. One of them attempted to take upon the Saint a revenge so terrible that but for the fact of the miracle, confirmed by many witnesses, which averted it, it would be incredible. The holy Pope had a most tender devotion to the Passion of our Lord, and prayed for hours nightly —as he had done since his priesthood in 1528— with his crucifix in his hand, devoutly kissing the Five Sacred Wounds. One night, as he knelt with his household in his oratory the Pope raised to his lips the Feet of the Crucified. But to his grief and terror, the carved Feet were drawn sharply aside, as he was about to kiss them. He cried aloud, thinking in his humility that for some secret sin the Divine Saviour refused his embrace. His servants, witnesses of the feet, thought otherwise. They carefully wiped the feet of the Crucifix with bread, "which, being thrown to an animal, the same delayed not to perish ".

The Saint had a great devotion to prayers for the dead. He granted indulgences for this pious practice, and also for the recital of the Officium Defunctorum. 9 He specially loved and venerated his glorious patron, St. Michael, whom he so much resembled (in so far as a human being may be said to resemble an Archangel). To St. Thomas Aquinas he showed his devotion not only by proclaiming the " Most learned of the Saints " the fifth Doctor of the Church, and declaring his feast of precept at Naples; but by publishing a splendid edition of his works in eighteen volumes. At the same time, by what was considered an act of delicate courtesy, he also ordered a new edition of the works of the Seraphic Doctor, St. Bonaventure.

But beyond all other devotions his love for the Blessed Sacrament shone resplendent. So great was his reverence that he would never allow himself to be carried in the procession of Corpus Christi, but always went on foot, bearing himself the monstrance. So angelic on these occasions was the holiness of his aspect that a Protestant gentleman from England, watching the procession, was so impressed by it that he shortly after became a Catholic. The Saint's Mass, said very early in the morning, was always preceded by an hour's preparation, and followed by at least an hour's thanksgiving. 10 It was St. Pius who added the last gospel to the Mass, in honour of the Incarnation. Next to his devotion to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament the Saint's greatest love was given to His Blessed Mother. We have seen how the prayers of St Pius won Le-panto, by the intercession of Our Lady, and how he loved and promulgated the devotion of the Holy Rosary. Numerous were the indulgences attached by the Saint to " the Royal Rosary of the Preachers," as a Spanish writer beautifully styles it. Its Feast, originally fixed as 7 October by St. Pius, was changed by Gregory XIII to the first Sunday of that month. The Office of. the Conception of Our Lady was declared by St. Pius to be binding on the whole Church, 11 and he attached indulgences to the recital of the little office of Our Lady.

His energy was boundless; he never spared himself. One hundred and twenty-one of the Bulls in the Papal Bullarium were issued by St. Pius, and many of these affected the whole world. "The mission of Pius V may be stated in one sentence—he was raised up to be the executive authority of the Council of Trent in Holy Church." His noble character is thus admirably summed up by Cardinal Newman : " I do not deny that St. Pius was stern and severe, as far as a heart burning and melted with Divine Love could be so. . . . Yet such energy and vigour as his were necessary for his times. He was emphatically a soldier of Christ in a time of insurrection and rebellion, when, in a spiritual sense, martial law was proclaimed."

His sternness and severity were exercised first and principally upon himself. Upon others they were used only for what he knew or believed to be the greater glory of God. Called to the Supreme Headship of Holy Church in one of the great crises of her history, he has been accused, even by Catholics, of bigotry and narrow-mindedness. If a bigot be a man of one idea, which he pursues unrelentingly, the first charge must be admitted, always remembering that the Saint's sole object and intention was to glorify God through the perfection of His Mystical Body upon earth. To this end he hesitated not to take measures of undoubted and most necessary severity against the foes of the Church both within and without. Nothing else could have been effectual in the difficult and dangerous times in which he lived. For those who have studied his life it is unnecessary to refute the charge of narrow-mindedness, and a charge preferred by those who have not is of no value. He was, and perhaps always must be, misunderstood, for he was literally consumed with zeal for God, and such a man, when his zeal is maintained at white-heat, is very seldom popular!

His grand figure, fearless and uncompromising in a lax and corrupt generation, rises clear above the mists of misrepresentation as one of the most important historical characters of the sixteenth century. Great and glorious as he is among Dominican Saints his influence was felt, not only within his Order, but throughout the whole of Christendom. For St. Pius is not only a great Saint, he was also a great statesman and ruler, and as such even his enemies must yield him at least this reluctant tribute, that he had the courage of his convictions. Right was right, holiness was righteousness, and wrong was sin to him, in temporal as well as spiritual things. And, however we may judge his political actions we must at any rate admit that his fearless, single-hearted policy brought about results of which we reap the benefit to-day. " Pius, like a flaming torch, illumines the whole world."

" Wonder not," cried St. Theresa to her nuns, when St. Pius appeared to her at the moment of his death, promising to help continually her noble work: " Wonder not that I weep, but rather weep with me, for to-day the Church has lost her greatest Pastor

The time was at hand when the Church was to lose him, just at the moment when, as it seemed, his presence was most urgently needed.

1 Alison "History of Europe," vol. ix, p. 95.

2 A Turkish captive, released from Rome, took with him a picture of the Pope to show to the Sultan "This," said he,  "is the man who has destroyed your fleets!"

3 The first year's income of a see, paid to the Pope.

4 Rarely: for a special reason: freely.

5 One of the most generous in his hospitality to the exiles was St. Charles Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan.

6 "Fate bene Fratelli," as the people called them.

7 About 7½,d. English.

8 Catena.

9 In no Order are the dead prayed for as in that of St. Dominic. It is no doubt this fact that gave rise to the old saying: "Be a Carthusian while you are living, and a Dominican when you are dead! "

10 On the Saint's return from the church he immediately gave audiences till 3 p.m. So early did these begin that in winter those who sought him had to come by torchlight!

11 The dogma of the Immaculate Conception was published by Pius IX, 8 Dec., 1857—300 years later.

Saint Pius V: Pope of The Holy Rosary. By C. M. Antony. Part 9.

CHAPTER VII. THE BATTLE OF LEPANTO. (1571.) part 2

The results of international jealousy have been seen in the tragedies of Nicosia and Famagusta. It was possible only to one man to league the jealous nations beneath the standard of the Holy Cross against the power of the Turk; and he sat on St. Peter's throne.

Since his accession St. Pius had been trying to arouse Europe to its danger, but in 1570, to every Court save to England, Cardinal-legates were specially sent to preach a crusade, to beg for ships, men and money. Every Court save that of Spain returned an excuse. Portugal had a valid reason; 1 Poland temporized; France and the Empire made elaborate excuses. 2 Venice, whose very existence was threatened, joined the League, and so did every State in Italy. The Knights of Malta sent literally every man they had. The Holy Pope, sick unto death and in grievous pain, rested neither night nor day, and left no means untried to secure success. What would have happened if craven Christendom had risen en masse ? Doubtless the total destruction of the barbarous Ottoman Empire, which for four centuries had been the scourge of civilization. " One is struck by the extreme difficulty which the Sovereign Pontiff had to form the League; by the brilliant victory; and by the almost immediate rupture of the Christian alliance on the death of the Pope. It all happened like a flash of lightning at night. One can only conclude that God, yielding to the supplication of His Vicar on earth, designed for his sake to save the Christian Nations, but that these did not deserve what was due only to the merits of the Saint. One reads at the same time in the story of Lepanto the mercy and the wrath of God; mercy towards His threatened Church, anger against the sovereigns and the nations given to heresy at the very moment when the prayers of St. Pius snatched them from peril. Two nations were chosen for the combat—Venice and Spain. The others, rejected, were delivered to furious civil and religious wars. What would have happened to France [had she] accepted the mission offered by St. Pius ? God measures His blessings by services rendered."3

To the Spanish 4 and Venetian 5 Ambassadors St. Pius vehemently insisted on the necessity of all national jealousy being laid aside in this Holy War, pointing out the terrible danger that they would otherwise incur. The question of leadership was discussed. Obviously, the chief must be neither Venetian nor Spaniard ! The Duke of Savoy, approached, declared with touching humility that the rival nations would both disapprove of his appointment, and begged to serve as a common soldier. In a moment of inspiration the eyes of the Saint fell on Don Juan of Austria. 6 This young Prince of the Imperial House, who had already distinguished himself in war with the Moors, hastily resigning his governorship, accepted the charge with intense emotion. "Go, my son," was the message sent to him by St. Pius, through the Legate Odescalchi, who was to accompany the expedition : " Go, for I know of a surety God will give you the Victory !"

On 24 May, 7 1571, in Consistory-extraordinary, an offensive and defensive League against the

Turk was signed and sworn to by the Pope, the King of Spain, and the Venetian Republic. The agreement, drawn up with consummate skill, dealt with the supplies to be furnished by each nation, and with the settlement of disputes. The Pope was in everything ,to be final judge. An honourable rank was reserved for the Emperor, and the Kings of France and Portugal if they would join the League at the eleventh hour; and all other Christian Princes were invited.

St. Pius made tremendous sacrifices to obtain money for the expedition. The Papal treasury was emptied. His subjects, rich and poor, followed his example. Dignities were resigned and sold. Twelve great monasteries sent a splendid donation. But St. Pius indignantly rejected the suggestion of the imposition of a super-tax on the people. The offerings were voluntary.

Nor was this the chief part of the preparation. St. Pius ordered the Devotion of the Forty Hours to be extended over three days, with public processions, during which the Rosary was recited. The whole expedition was placed under the protection of the Queen of the Holy Rosary. 8 The devotion was-not only to be practised daily in each ship; the beads of the Rosary were the weapons with which those left at home should storm Heaven for the success of the League. " The holy Pope," writes Cardinal Newman, " had been interesting the Holy Virgin in his cause."

On 21 July, 1571, the Papal fleet sailed for Naples, where it was to meet Don Juan and the allies. It was time to act! The Turks had just captured 15,000 Catholic slaves from Dalmatia (then Venetian), which they had ravaged, together with several islands, and were now masters of the Mediterranean. The Genoese contingent, however, was delayed, and it was not till 14 August, when Famagusta had fallen, that the Cardinal-ambassador of Spain presented Don Juan with the Banner 9 of the League, the gift of St. Pius, in the church of the Poor Clares at Naples.

The fleet was still unfortunately delayed by the weather. The galleys 10 were obliged to wait for a calm. It was not until 16 September that Don Juan, sailing from Messina, finally marshalled his fleet in order to battle. There were six great galeasses 11 and about 250 galleys and smaller vessels. 12 The galeasses were placed in a line in front of the rest of the fleet. Behind them were three squadrons of galleys. Behind these were two other squadrons, with wings to right and left. A strong force was held in reserve, and a few of the swiftest vessels were detached as a flying-squadron, to look out for the enemy. The whole fleet being brought to anchor, the Rosary was devoutly recited, and from the galley " Vittoria " the legate gave the Apostolic Benediction to 65,000 kneeling men. All, before sailing, had approached the sacraments; no bad characters were allowed to join ; and on each ship were religious, as chaplains. It was the ideal of Christian warfare. Here were only "Christian soldiers fighting for the Church

For nearly three weeks they sought the enemy. 13 Early on Sunday morning, 7 October, the two fleets came face to face in the Bay of Lepanto. 14 The splendid Turkish warships, anchored in crescent form, filled with desperate freebooters, greatly outnumbered the Christian host, above which waved the white banner of the Pope. In the luminous pearly haze a couple of Greek islands lay dim upon the horizon, like clouds of rosy gold. The crimson crescent and star of the Mohammedan flag and the gorgeous painted sails made vivid patches of colour against the pale turquoise of the sky, and the shining, rippling water. For three hours the two fleets lay, gazing, it seemed, in admiration at the glorious sight. On each Christian ship the Rosary was recited for the last time, and Our Lady's help earnestly invoked. On each ship a religious gave general absolution, and Don Juan made the round of the fleet, exhorting and cheering his men.

It was the turning-point of the history of Christendom. At that moment there knelt in the Vatican, as he had knelt throughout the preceding night,—as he knelt till all was over—the figure of the aged Pope, worn by fasting, broken by illness, miraculously aware that this was the day which should decide the fate of the world. He prayed, as Aaron the High Priest prayed upon Mount Hor, while throughout the Holy City processions were organized and prayers offered for the success of the Christian arms and a hundred leagues away his people fought—and won.

The wind, which had been against the Christians, suddenly dropped, and the most decisive battle of the world was arrayed. 15 But the intercession of Our Lady and the prayers of the Vicar of Christ prevailed. Though from a human standpoint it is perfectly evident that only Don Juan's clear head and skilful generalship, 16 and (at one supreme moment) the magnificent valour of the Knights of Malta 17 saved the day, the Turks themselves felt that Heaven was against them. The sea was thick with wreck and spar, with wounded and dead. At 430 p.m. the Turks gave way. They had lost 240 ships and 33,000 men, 18 whereas the Catholics had only lost 7000 to 8ooo, and comparatively few vessels. A great storm arose, and completed the destruction, while the victors made for the nearest harbour,19 Their first care was to pray for the dead; their second to send swift messengers to Rome, and the other great cities.

But St. Pius needed no messenger. He was sitting that afternoon in his study with his Pontifical treasurer Busotti when, rising suddenly, he opened a window to the east, and stood for a few moments gazing into the sky. Then: " This is no time to talk of business!" he cried. " Let us thank Almighty God that our army has gained a great victory over the Turks! " and passing through the room, he went to kneel for hours before the Blessed Sacrament.

It was the first Sunday in October, a day since hallowed in the Church as Rosary Sunday. 20 The words of the Holy Pope, immediately written down, repeated to the Cardinals, signed, and sealed, but not published, were not confirmed for a fortnight. It was not until midnight, 21 October, that delayed by storms, a messenger arrived post-haste from the Doge Mocenigo at Venice, bearing the glorious tidings, Rome went mad with joy. When Don Juan 21 followed, not long after, to kneel at the feet of the Saint on his way to King Philip, a splendid " Triumph " was prepared for him. St. Pius presented him with a beautiful buckler of wrought and beaten iron, on which was a crucifix, with the glorious motto: "Christus vincit: Christus regnat : Christus imperat

To Colonna, the Papal commander, another great reception was given. Throughout, the rejoicings took the form of Masses of thanksgiving, solemn Te Deums, and processions, so thoroughly had the spirit of St Pius permeated the people; so entirely did they realize that the victory was of God, through His Blessed Mother and His Vicar on earth. Venice, Spain, Genoa, all Italy rejoiced together.

And what of Malta ? An old Dominican chronicler answers the question. As all that remained of the Maltese fleet neared Valetta, the Bishop, the Grand Master, the clergy,—the entire population, went down the precipitous streets to the water's-edge to receive their heroes. The cannon roared and thundered in the Barracca above them as the ships were moored to the great quay. "At the sight of those mutilated ships, half-mended in haste, those empty decks lately packed thick with red uniforms, and those mourning flags which meant so many dead, there fell a great silence. Every heart was wrung. The Knights disembark,—they are counted, one by one,—there are not thirty. Calabrian sailors bring in the arms of the dead, with those of two generals, wrapped in black. It is a long procession. Suddenly a woman breaks the tension by a shriek—it is echoed by a great cry from princes, people and clergy, and all fall on their knees as the glorious holocaust which had saved the Christian army, passes on, and the cannon thunder overheard. But not one complains."

They sang Te Deum in the Cathedral of St. John before the thirty survivors—before the pile of arms, covered with black. Only the women had not the courage to enter, or to sing. Turning on the steps of the church the Grand Master said to them: "We go to thank God that Malta has done her duty !—go you, poor children, and weep! "

Such were the heroes, such the victory, of Our Lady Help of Christians I As we invoke her at Benediction by that sweetest of her titles let us thank God for St. Pius, who gave it to her, and who now prays for his people, in Heaven; let us sometimes remember Lepanto, as we sing: "Auxilium Christianorum ora pro nobis ".

1 Her fleet was decimated by plague, and the Moorish pirates.

2 "I would rather see the earth open beneath my feet than offer any obstacle to so Holy a League ! " said the King of France—whose goodwill was confined to fair words. Maximilian, who was frankly terrified, said he had an eight years' truce with the Turks, and could not break it! There was some question of inviting the Duke of Moscow to join the League, but the Russians were schismatics, and at that time almost barbarians. It was thought better not to include them.

3 M. Herve Bazin.

4 Cardinals Granville and Pacheco.

5 Surian.

6 His father was Charles V. He was at this time only twenty-four.

7 24 May is now observed as the Feast of Our Lady. Help of Christians.

8 By the the Bull " Consueverunt" (17 Sept., 1569) the recitation of the Rosary was enjoined on the faithful, against heresy and infidelity, by the Dominican Pope.

9 It was of white satin, richly embroidered; on the right, a crucifix; on the left the pontifical arms, between those of Spain and Venice. Beneath the crossed keys of St. Peter was the scutcheon of Don Juan.

10 Ships manned by hundreds of rowers,—either slaves, convicts, or volunteers to whom a small salary was paid.

11 A sort of floating fort, impenetrable to ordinary bullets. They carried cannon, and were designed to sustain the first shock of an attack.

12 The numbers of both fleets vary slightly. Those given are taken from P. Farochon's Chypre et Lepante, which tells the whole story in fascinating detail.

13 The Spaniards counselled caution. The Venetians were wild to avenge their losses.

14 Off the coast of Greece, near Cephalonia and Zante.

15 Even non-Catholic writers do not hesitate to compare Lepanto and Salamis.

16 His plan of battle is universally admitted to have been " a miracle of skill ".

17 To repair an error of the Venetian admiral's they allowed themselves to be cut to pieces, to save a squadron, in a charge as glorious and as hopeless as that of Balaclava. Each fleet had its own commander, over whom Don Juan was supreme.

18 Out of a fleet of 290 warships and 85,000 to 88,000 men. The forces were in the proportion of about four to three.

19 Among them were two great-nephews of St. Pius.

20 The first Sunday in October was appointed to be observed as the Feast of Our Lady, Queen of the Holy Rosary, in memory of Lepanto, by Pope Gregory XIII, successor of St. Pius, 1 April, 1573.

21 This young Prince, who died before he was 31, would gladly have continued the campaign, but Venetian jealousy prevented it. (Not long after the Serene Republic made a truce with the Turks !) St. Pius greeted Don Juan with the words he had uttered on his appointment: "Fuit homo missus a Deo, cut nomen Joannes ".

Saint Pius V: Pope of The Holy Rosary. By C. M. Antony. Part 8.

CHAPTER VII. THE BATTLE OF LEPANTO. (1571.) part 1

" The Turkish successes," says Cardinal Newman, " began in the middle of the eleventh century. They ended in the sixteenth. Selim the Sot came to the throne of Othman, and St. Pius V to the throne of the Apostle " (1566).

Soliman II, the Magnificent, had reigned from 1520-66. Under his sway the Turkish dominions in Asia, Africa, and Europe had increased alarmingly. The capture of Tripoli, and the defeat of two fleets sent against him by Charles V had given rise to the saying: "If the Turk is terrible by land he is invincible by sea". The Sultan possessed the most formidable fleet, and in the Janissaries 1 the finest body of infantry in the world. Since the resignation of Charles V in 1555 no European monarch had been found great enough to overawe him. His first check was at Malta, in 1565. Besieged by 260 warships, the Grand Master of the Knights of St. John, La Valette, could only defend the island with magnificent courage ; he could not attack the enemy. It was not until a sustained siege had closed with twenty-two consecutive attacks that the Turks were driven away. But the victory was dearly bought, for the gallant defenders, having neither money nor men to repair the ruined defences, decided to abandon Malta altogether.

St. Pius, however, would not suffer this. In a letter dated 22 March, 1566, he commanded the heroes to remain at this outpost of Christendom, sending to La Valette at the same time 5 7,000 golden crowns, and promising 4000 crowns monthly to the rebuilding of the ruins. The Knights kissed the Brief. " Hic Domus, hie requies mea!" they cried, —and Malta was saved. England to-day owes Valetta—the new city built by the Pope's bounty —to St. Pius. Six days later the first stone was laid by the hero from whom it takes its name.

Soliman, angry at his rebuff, now appeared before Chios 2 with 130,000 men in a fleet of 140 galleys. Explaining his presence by a very futile excuse, he immediately invited the governor, Giustiniani, and his council, to a banquet on board his own ship. It was Easter, and though they had all made their duties, the doomed guests, certain of treachery, again went to confession. The moment they were all on the Sultan's ship each was murdered. Giustiniani's last words were : " O Lord, accept our lives, but spare this Christian nation! " But Chios was not spared. The city was sacked, and all the inhabitants massacred. The Church of St. Dominic was turned into a mosque; the Cathedral of San Pietro was utterly destroyed. The aged bishop 3 rushed to the altar to defend the Blessed Sacrament, as the Turks entered the church. " Is this thy God ? " blasphemously cried the captain; 4 "He is at least worth 200 ducats, with His pearl decorations!" Seizing the ciborium, he was about to empty the Sacred Hosts on the ground and trample on them (though the. bishop begged him to slay him on the spot rather than thus offend Almighty God), when he was prevented by his own officers.

Two children 5 of the Giustiniani family were beaten to death. The younger, almost cut to pieces, was offered life if he would hold up one finger— the Mohammedan symbol of faith. 6 He clenched both hands so tight that they could not be opened after his death. The massacres lasted three days. Chios was left, a pile of corpses and smoking ruins.

But the tyrant's hour was come. He had dispatched 90,000 men into Hungary, where after many successes he had laid siege to Szigeth. St. Pius, whose heart was wrung by the tragedy of Chios, ordered the Forty Hours' Devotion in Rome, with public prayers, and three great processions, in which he himself took part. " I fear the prayers of the Pope much more than I do the arms of his soldiers!" remarked Soliman, with great reason, when he heard of these arrangements. On the day of the third procession the Sultan died! Szigeth fell three days later, having resisted to the last drop of its blood; but the Janissaries were obliged to hasten to salute the new Sultan; Vienna was spared; Austria was saved!

The Sultan Soliman II was succeeded by his son, Selim the Sot, whose great ambition was the conquest of Italy and the destruction of Christianity. He proceeded with all speed to pick a quarrel with Venice. Cyprus, the most important island in the Mediterranean, belonged to the Serene Republic, 7 which had offered an asylum there to the refugees from the siege of Malta. On 13 September, 1569, a terrible catastrophe occurred: the arsenal of Venice was blown up. The shock was felt at Treviso and Padua, where it was thought to be an earthquake. 8 The city had not time to recover from this disaster when Selim insolently sent to demand the instant cession of Cyprus, as forming part of his Egyptian conquests. The Venetians, who happened to have a commercial treaty with the Turk, replied indignantly that this was bad faith; and the red flag floated over San Marco! Meanwhile extraordinary effort was made to rebuild and restock the arsenal. Family jewels and treasures were sold, taxes were joyfully paid, and the noblest patricians worked like labourers on the new building, while their wives and daughters brought them food. The Signory appealed frantically to the Pope.

St. Pius did not fail his people. The enemy was at their gates. At his prayer Philip of Spain 9 furnished a small fleet, which with the ships presented by the Pope and the Venetian contingent was ordered to proceed to Cyprus immediately, under the Venetian admiral, Dandolo; and on Sunday, 14 June, 1570, St. Pius, after High Mass, solemnly blessed the standard 10 of the pontifical troops, and presented it.

Alas! through the insane pride and obstinacy of Dandolo and the ceaseless dissensions between the rival Powers, Venice and Spain, the campaign was unsuccessful from the first. The Pope's idea of a Holy War seemed forgotten. To us, looking back, it seems extraordinary that, when the safety, not only of Christendom, but of all civilisation was at stake, and Europe was threatened by the power of the Turk, foolish quarrels and trivial jealousies about precedence should have ceaselessly imperilled the existence of the Holy League.

Meanwhile Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus, besieged by a huge Turkish force, was reduced to extremities. 11 But the Christian fleet, now in the harbour of Suda, did nothing. Dandolo had felt bound to oppose those who wished to attack the Turks immediately. " Let them all perish rather than a man disobey me!" he cried when the Spanish general demurred. But only the Pontifical and Maltese troops were anxious to fight. Dandolo, after some delay, ordered the fleet to Famagusta, a town defended by the glorious hero Bragadino, and a few other noble Venetians. " It is vain!" he replied to Dandolo's overtures; " you have lost Famagusta, and will not save Nicosia!" It was too true. Dandolo set sail for Nicosia, where he ordered a skirmishing attack to be made on the Turks. In this action he paid for his insensate folly with his life. It was the pride as well as the avarice of her sons which eventually brought about the ruin of Venice.

On 8 September the Turkish commander Mustapha made a final attack upon the doomed city. Nicosia was sacked, and 20,000 persons, including the Dominican Bishop Amalthi 12 massacred. The Turks made a huge pile of corpses, which they surrounded with beams and broken wood, tying to stakes above it the wounded, and any left alive; set fire to the whole, and joining hands, danced around it, crying to the Catholics to call on their Christ to save them. This lasted for eight days, amid orgies indescribable. Four ships of the fleet were filled with treasure, and crowded with 1ooo women and children, to be sold as slaves. One heroic girl followed a soldier secretly into the powder-magazine, threw a light into the nearest barrel, and the next moment the ship and its hapless freight had perished in the explosion. All four ships were destroyed, so great was the shock, and all the slaves, and 2000 Turks killed.

Still more awful was the fate of Famagusta. During the blockade which lasted from 16 September, 1570, till the following summer the new Venetian commander 13 had succeeded in reinforcing the garrison and in sending in supplies. On 30 June, 1571, a sharp skirmish took place; 3000 Janissaries were killed, and Mustapha, furious, swore to take Famagusta or perish. The Bishop (Raggazzoni), a Venetian Dominican escaped, and fled to Venice for help. Admitted to the presence of the terrible Council, he complained bitterly of the folly which had lost Nicosia, and of the slowness in succouring Famagusta. He asked for ships. " What else do you want ?" sneered the Council, which did not approve of this outspokenness. " Six bastions 14 in good condition," replied the intrepid friar; "health for those who have lost it, and ten thousand measures of fresh blood to repair the strength of the wounded, from whom it is still flowing!" The Council, furious, ordered "Fra Hieronymo" back to his monastery, with the significant intimation that it would be better for his health to remain there!

But its members were again braved by the wife of an officer in Famagusta, who with a crowd of ladies invaded the Council-chamber, swearing that unless Venice came to the rescue of Cyprus she would raise Corsica—her native country—against the Republic! At last a reinforcement was sent— too late!

Seven thousand soldiers, under Bragadino* had sustained the siege magnificently for ten months. The Turkish attacks were always repulsed, and at last Mustapha offered honourable terms if the garrison would capitulate. There was no food left in the City—the men were dying of starvation. They must have wondered sometimes what Venice was doing. Bragadino accepted, and on 3 August, -1571, Famagusta was evacuated. Three days later Mustapha ostentatiously broke an article of the treaty, and on Bragadino's remonstrance, ordered a general massacre. The other Venetian officers were immediately executed. Bragadino's ears and nose were cut off, his nails torn out, and his teeth broken; he was stripped, flogged most cruelly, paraded on an ass through the streets of the town with an old sack over his shoulders, and then forced to work like a slave at his own fortifications. This continued for twelve days in the blazing sun, the martyr being often cruelly beaten. At the end, he was flayed alive, Mustapha standing by and crying: " Come, where is your God now ? " Bragadino recited the " Miserere " in a clear voice, throughout his torments. They were but half-ended, when as he said, " Cor mundum crea in me, Deus" it failed, and ceased. The martyr had entered into the joy of his Lord. 15

These terrible pages from European history convey to us some faint idea of the meaning of a Turkish invasion of Christendom. Rome was to share the fate of Nicosia; all Christian princes that of Bragadino. Yet the only person fully awake even now to this appalling danger was St. Pius. " The Saint found it impossible to move Christendom to its own defence. How indeed was this to # be done when Christendom was [leavened with] Protestantism, and secretly perhaps felt, as the Greeks felt, that the Turk was its friend and ally ? " 16

1 The Janissaries, of whom there were 30,000 to 32,000, were abolished (by massacre) in 1826.

2 An island in the Greek Archipelago, sold to the Genoese by the Emperor Constantine; and a great centre of commerce.

3 Timoteo Giustiniani, O.P.

4 A renegade Jew. There were many among the Turks.

5 Aged ten and twelve. The Giustiniani had always been renowned for heroism. On this occasion twenty-one of the family were martyred. Touron places the massacre at Constantinople (IV, 299).

6 As a protest against the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, the most hated Catholic dogma.

7 Through Caterina Cornaro, a noble Venetian lady, who had married the last King of Cyprus, Jacques de Lusignan (d. 1473).

8 The Grand Canal rose several feet, entering the palaces, some of which fell down. " Une ruyne si espouvantable qu'ung chacun se creust venu au jour du grand et ultime jugement." It was the work of a renegade Jew, Miguel, who formerly when fleeing from justice had been sheltered at Chioggia, and so was acquainted with Venice and her arsenal.

9 The other Catholic monarchs excused themselves. France had less to lose by the Turk, and the Emperor was terrified at offending the Sultan.

10 It was of crimson silk, bearing a great crucifix richly wrought, the Apostles Peter and Paul on either hand, and the motto: " In hoc signo vinces".

11 lt had a great wall, 11 bastions, 3 gates, 200 pieces of great artillery. Eighty of its 365 churches (including the magnificent monastery of Lusignan, where were the tombs of the Kings of Jerusalem and Cyprus, 16 archbishops and 200 monks) had been pitilessly levelled to strengthened the defences. All was vain !

12 Touron IV, 382.

13 Marc' Antonio Quirini.

14 Strong forts.

15 17 August, 1571. His skin, stuffed with straw was tied on the back of a cow and paraded through the city he had so gloriously defended. It was then sent to Selim as a trophy, and was displayed at Constantinople to terrorize the thousands of Christian slaves in that city, but was finally rescued, and restored to his native Venice—which had betrayed him. The relic was placed in a magnificent tomb in the great Dominican Church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo—" the Venetian Westminster Abbey "—where it still remains.

16 It is instructive to notice that Elizabeth, in her negotiations with the Porte, styles herself: Vera fidei contra idolatras falso Christi nomen profitentes invicta et potentissima propugnatrix ! " The Turk, however, was under no delusion ! The Grand Vizier observed derisively to the Imperial Ambassador that the English wanted now nothing to be true Moslems but the raising of one finger on high, and the cry: "There is One God I" (Hammer, "Osmanges-chichte," bk. iv. s. 208). A common hatred of the Pope and the King of Spain soon cemented the alliance between England and the Turk, though Harburn (Elizabeth's agent) tried in vain to persuade the Turks to attack Spain at the time of the Armada. In 1578 Harburn presented himself to Sultan Amarath III with a letter from Queen Elizabeth, begging his friendship, and permission to trade in the Mediterranean under her own flag. The Porte "did not deign" to reply till 1583 (Dyer, "Modern Europe," XXVII, bk. in. pp. 90-91).

Saint Pius V: Pope of The Holy Rosary. By C. M. Antony. Part 6.

CHAPTER V.THE FATHER OF CHRISTENDOM. (1566-1570.)

St. Pius was an idealist. His standard was perfection. For this he laboured, for this he prayed. To this ideal he strove to bring, as Father of Christendom and spiritual monarch of the world, the kingdoms committed to his care. No scheme so vast, no detail so insignificant, but was modelled on the lines of ideal perfection. From the affairs of the great Powers to the management of his household, from the direction of a Queen to his own private prayers, all his acts bear the stamp of a supreme conscientiousness. He sought to be perfect as his Father in Heaven was perfect Not one of St. Peter's successors has had a loftier standard, a more comprehensive grasp of the necessities of the world, to the present and future. For he was eminently practical. His was the true Dominican spirit,—to pray continually, and to give forth the fruits of his prayer. It was this electric combination of the ideal and the practical which makes his brief reign one of the greatest in history. From it stand out in letters of flame his glorious achievements—the reform of Catholics, the conquest of heretics, the destruction of the infidel —on a background of beautiful detail of exquisite and simple perfection. And he had the courage of his convictions ; he was as brave as he was holy. He had, of course, the defects of his temperament. In a certain sense, he was intolerant. The very loftiness of his ideal made it impossible for him to judge men except from his own standpoint. His zeal for God carried him to extremes which in any but a Saint might almost be termed fanaticism. " His fierceness, his impetuosity," says a Dominican of our own day, " at times led him to misunderstand character." Still, if he erred, it was in the right direction. Had the monarchs of Europe possessed one tithe of his magnificent idealism, his splendid faith, his undaunted energy —above all, of his spirit of prayer,—the world might have been Christian to-day !

On 17 January, 1566, Feast of St. Antony Abbot, and his sixty-second birthday, St. Pius was crowned in the Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul. His reign had opened in troublous times. Three distinct dangers menaced the Church: the appalling prospect of a Turkish invasion; 1 the rapid spread of the German and Swiss Protestant heresies, now rampant in England and militant in France; and the apathy of Catholics in presence of these perils, together with a certain opposition to the reforms so urgently needed from within.

But St. Pius was quite fearless. The reforms began from the very day of his coronation. Instead of the general scramble by the vast crowds in the Piazza for the large sums of money flung to them in small coins as a token of rejoicing, the new Pope ordered double the equivalent of the usual amount to be distributed privately amongst the very poor. It was the custom to set aside a thousand crowns for a great feast to the Cardinals and ambassadors, to celebrate a coronation. St. Pius ordered the thousand crowns to be distributed among the poorest convents in Rome. " I am not afraid that God will take me to task for not having given a banquet to Cardinals and ambassadors" he said, when some one ventured to remonstrate, " but I should certainly fear that He would be angry were I to neglect the poor ! " His alms to the needy and deserving amounted to 40,000 crowns; and this fact somewhat allayed public anxiety in Rome, where it was feared that a Pontiff of such stern and heroic virtue would be unduly severe. "We will try," said the Saint, when this was repeated to him, " so to rule that they shall mourn for Our death more than for Our accession."

The Pope's right-hand in all administrative work was his great-nephew, Michael Bonelli, also a Dominican, whom he raised to the purple under the title of Cardinal Alexandria In his horror of the prevalent practice of nepotism the Pope had refused at first to allow any of his relations to come to Rome, lest it should be said he had favoured them unduly. But he was induced to modify this resolution in the case of the learned and able young Dominican, who became to his uncle all that St. Charles Borromeo had been to Pius IV. The new Cardinal Alexandrin was forbidden to hold any benefice, and lived a life as simple and austere as that of his predecessor in the title.

At his accession St. Pius had, while redoubling his own devotions, begged prayers throughout Rome, particularly from all religious houses, and published a Jubilee.

Then he set himself to the task of reform at home —a task which it is only possible barely to outline.

He insisted first upon reform amongst the Cardinals. Many lived in the luxury of princes, thinking thereby to add to the dignity of the Apostolic See. The Saint exhorted them to moderation, to simplicity —even to holy poverty. " You are the light of the world, the salt of the earth!" he cried. " Enlighten the people by the purity of your lives, by the brilliance of your holiness! God does not ask from you merely ordinary virtue, but downright perfection!"

He exhorted to justice and holiness all grades of magistrates and rulers, and personally supervised their appointment. Numerous were the laws he made for the improvement of public morals—men and women of bad character, and Jewish usurers, being remorselessly banished—and for purity of life. Some of these laws, which sound curious to modern ears, were directed against innkeepers (who were forbidden to sell drink to their fellow-citizens at what were houses of entertainment only for travellers and strangers); against brigands, wreckers, and pirates. They were not, however, considered too severe in the sixteenth century. The measures taken against blasphemy in any form were particularly strong.

These laws, at once put into force, were eminently successful. In less than a year the aspect of affairs had changed. Even three months after the Saint's accession 2 a German nobleman writes of the edifying piety of the whole city of Rome during tent, and especially in Holy Week, when the churches could not contain the penitents, who slept on the bare ground and fasted rigorously. "As long as I live I shall witness, to the shame of Satan and all his ministers, that I saw in Rome at this time the most marvellous works of penitence and piety. ... But nothing can astonish me under such a Pope. His fasts, his humility, his innocence, his holiness, his zeal for the faith, shine so brilliantly that he seems a second St. Leo, or St. Gregory the Great. ... I do not hesitate to say that had Calvin himself been raised from the tomb on Easter Day, and seen the holy Pope . . . blessing his kneeling people ... in spite of himself he would have recognized and venerated the true representative of Jesus Christ!"

The Pope's measures for the reform of the Church were drastic. All bishops were bidden on pain of deprivation to return to their sees within one month; to live there, and to become true Fathers of their people. Seminaries were everywhere established, and at Fribourg a great college. The Decrees of the Council of Trent were to be rigorously observed by all grades of clergy. The most severe laws were passed against the detestable practice of simony. In France, great benefices and even bishoprics were actually held by women, who received all revenues, and paid an ecclesiastic to perform all necessary functions. 3 This terrible state of things was sternly swept away. Strict regulations were made for all religious houses; perpetual enclosure being enjoined upon all convents of nuns, " except in cases of fire, leprosy, or pestilence," according to the Decrees of the Council of Trent, confirmed by two Bulls of St. Pius in 1566. The recital of the Divine office was strictly enforced in every church (particularly in the 360 churches of Rome), and the strongest measures were taken against irreverence in church. Conversations of any kind, whispering, jokes and laughter were sternly prohibited, as offending Almighty God in the Blessed Sacrament, and most severely punished, in the first instance by a heavy fine; in the second, by prison or exile. Priests, sacristans and officials were charged to enforce this decree. The crowds of beggars which assembled within the churches were no longer allowed to pass beyond the porch, except to pray.

In September, 1566, appeared the Catechism of the Council of Trent, drawn up under the Pontiffs direction. 4 The new edition of the Breviary, 5 revised by him, was published 9 July, 1568, and the revised missal two years later. Church music received much attention, the old Gregorian plain-chant being restored in its splendid simplicity. Few Catholics are perhaps aware how nearly music was forbidden altogether as an accessory of worship. To Palestrina, the great composer, belongs the honour of preserving it to the Church. Pius IV, in 1565, had held a commission on Church music, then become almost operatic in its extravagantly secular character. Palestrina was bidden to compose three Masses, in order that the Commission might see if it was possible to combine beautiful music with real devotion. On the manuscript of one of these,—the " Mass of Pope Marcellus II"—can be seen, written in a trembling hand, the touching words : " Help me, O God! " 6 So exquisite was this Mass that Pius IV, on hearing it, cried with emotion : " This must be the New Song which John the Apostle heard in the Celestial City!" St. Pius V appointed Palestrina master of the Papal chapel and choir.

Such is the briefest sketch of the great reforms wrought by St. Pius in the Church, and for the moral welfare of his people. A necessarily brief survey must also be taken of his world-wide political energies, though in order fully to appreciate these it would be necessary carefully to study the eighty volumes of the Pope's correspondence, preserved in the Vatican! His outlook and his dominion embraced the world, which was leavened by his holy influence. 7

The weak and vacillating emperor Maximilian II, hard pressed by the Lutherans at the Council of Augsburg, had almost decided to grant all their demands. Cardinal Commendone, an experienced diplomatist, was straightaway dispatched to point out the grave danger of yielding to political necessity those truths which in his heart the Emperor held sacred. He was bidden to exact profession of Catholic faith from all prelates of his empire, and to enjoin upon all the strict observance of the Tridentine Decrees. But Maximilian could not make up his mind to offend the powerful Lutheran party, already in possession of many sees. He admitted to the Legate that the Pope was right, but that he dared not refuse " liberty of conscience "to all! That night appeared to him a vision of St Pius, with a fiery sword in his hand, which so terrified the time-serving Emperor that he at once promised obedience! His brother Ferdinand was also moved by a brief of St. Pius to abandon a certain disloyal course of political action.

But it was not only on Germany that the Saint's eyes were turned. Sigismund, King of Poland, who had repudiated his Queen, Catherine, actually applied for a divorce. St. Pius told him plainly that he had been inspired by heretics, and by the memory of Henry VIII. As he well knew, the sacrament of matrimony was indissoluble. The death of Queen Catherine alone prevented Sigismund from seeking a reconciliation with her. But heresy was rife in Poland, and it seemed at one time as if the King would countenance the persecution of Catholics. Again the Holy Father intervened, and his stern reproof saved the unhappy country. By his decrees countless abuses were reformed there. It was through his influence alone that the Grand Duke of Moscow was dissuaded from invading Poland, and brought to consider instead the advisability of joining the League against the Turks! Nor did his dauntless courage fail to gain him the respect—even the affection—of the princes he reprimanded.

Spain, under Philip II, was then at the zenith of her glory. Under her flag in the Old World and the New, the Catholic faith was zealously guarded, and Franciscans and Dominicans, followed later by the Society of Jesus, preached and baptized among many heathen nations. St. Pius sought to redouble the zeal of those missionaries already in the field, as well as to increase their numbers; and many and wise were the regulations he laid down for the native converts. He warned Philip, then in the Netherlands, of the threatened rising of the Moors in Spain (1567-68)—a warning at first almost disregarded, but which, when repeated, woke Philip at last to the terrible danger. He prohibited bull-fights—the national pastime—most strictly; and forbade Christian burial to any who should be killed while taking part in them. He reformed many ecclesiastical abuses of old standing. It was through the Holy Father's advice that Philip II undertook in the Netherlands that campaign against the heretics for which he, and the Duke of Alva, his commander-in-chief, have been branded by Protestants (who know nothing of the appalling outrages and rebellious attitude of their co-religionists) as monsters of cruelty. St. Pius supplied the King with money for this war, and with French and Italian troops. He legislated wisely against Mohammedans and Jews in Spain.

It was the condition of France , however, under Catherine de Medici, which caused St. Pius the gravest anxiety. "The eldest daughter of the Church " was indeed in sore straits. The Queen-regent, whose conduct is so much the more inexcusable than Elizabeth's, in that she professed herself a Catholic, had for many years been intriguing with the rapidly increasing Huguenot party, in spite of its avowedly anarchist and anti-Catholic tenets; in spite of countless outrages committed upon the Blessed Sacrament, and all holy things, of the murder of priests, of the destruction of churches and relics. Catherine " tolerated " the Huguenots, but this did not save France from continual war and rebellion stirred up by these heretics.

Cardinal Turriani was dispatched as Nuncio to the French Court, and through him the Pope's fiery representations took effect. The heretic counsellors—among them Cardinal Chatillon, Bishop of Beauvais—were banished, and the decrees of the Council of Trent published. Avignon, the ancient city of the Popes, was safeguarded from an irruption of heresy.

Catherine lost little time in representing to the Pope (whom she thanked warmly for his timely assistance!) that the royal treasury was empty, informing him at the same time of her earnest desire to see the Huguenot heresy extirpated in France. St. Pius, though not deceived by these representations, nor believing, as Catherine asserted, that she only tolerated heretics because she-had no money to take up arms against them, came generously to the rescue. He sent 150,000 crowns, and 6000 soldiers, and finding this insufficient, requested Philip II and the Italian Princes to come to the aid of France. A tax was imposed on the clergy, and an several rich monasteries, and with the voluntary offering of 100,000 crowns from his people, called "the subsidy of charity," sufficient funds were raised for a campaign. In order to avoid pillage and rapine, the worst horrors of warfare, the Holy Father insisted upon his soldiers being well-fed, and regularly paid. At Jarnac (12 March, 1569) a great victory was gained over the rebel troops by the Duke of Anjou. St. Pius caused a solemn Te Deum of thanksgiving to be sung in St. Peter's, and earnestly begged the Duke to follow up his advantage, which he did at Mont-contour (3 Sept., 1569), when, chiefly through the valour of the pontifical troops, the Huguenots sustained a crushing defeat. The heretics themselves declared that when the Pope's standard was unfurled they saw the heavens full of soldiers in shining armour, each brandishing a drawn sword,— a sight which greatly discomfited them. 7

The growth of the Portuguese dominions in the East was followed attentively by the Pope, who, on the representation of his friend, St. Francis Borgia, General of the Society, consecrated three Jesuit bishops for Goa, and further India. Nor did he forget the needs of China and Japan, in the former of which countries the glorious Church founded by " Christ's wandering Friars " 8 in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries had been drowned in a sea of blood. His fatherly care was felt in all parts of the world. He did not forget Italy. The terrible struggle between Corsica and Genoa was ended by his diplomacy; Naples and Sicily were pacified; heresy was firmly stamped out in Lombardy, particularly in Milan, where St. Charles Borromeo was only saved by a miracle from the bullet of an assassin, while praying in his private chapel, 26 October, 1569. St. Pius, deeply shocked, abolished (7 February, 1571) the shamefully relaxed Order of Humiliati, of which the would-be murderer was a member. The whole tragic story belongs rather to the life of St. Charles than to that of St Pius, but it is well to mention it here.

One single instance may be given of the Saint's manner of showing gratitude to his friends. Cosmo de Medici, Duke of Tuscany—the very prince who had once called him " the Cardinal of God," had been eminently loyal and devoted to the Holy See since his accession, particularly in regard to his generous assistance in the war with the Huguenots. St. Pius invited him to Rome during the Lent of 1570 received him as an honoured guest; and during Solemn High Mass in St. Peter's on Mid-Lent Sunday, crowned him with his own hands as Grand Duke of Tuscany. To the Austrian ambassador, who ventured to remonstrate—for Cosmo was not a vassal of the Pope—the Saint replied that the Church alone conferred on Christian princes their dignities and titles; and sent Cardinal Commendone to explain to the Emperor, from historical precedents, that he was within his prerogative in so acting. Criticism, in the face of such energy and sincerity, was gradually silenced.

But it is not even by events like these that the name of St. Pius will be ever honoured. Catholics may forget his great reforms, his missionary zeal, his war against the Huguenots, but they cannot forget the Excommunication of Elizabeth, and the Battle of Lepanto.

1 In 1565 nothing but the glorious defence of the Rock of Malta by the heroic Knights of St. John had prevented Soliman the Magnificent from ravaging the South of Europe. He greatly desired an alliance with the Lutheran heretics; Martin Luther, he said, was an instrument raised up by God to fight against the Catholic Church from within !

2 9 April, 1566. See De Failoux, "Hist, de St. Pie V," p. 127.

3 The sister-in-law of the Due de Montpensier actually held the bishopric of Glandeves-sur-Var, and two abbeys in Brittany and Normandy! (Joyau, "Vie," etc., p. 109).

4 St. Pius had it translated into French, Italian, German, and Polish.

5 By a special decree, those Orders which could show a rite of their own in existence for 200 years, approved by the Apostolic See, were permitted to retain it. Thus, Benedictines, Carthusians, Cistercians, Carmelites, and Dominicans kept their ancient office; and, the Cathedral Chapter of Milan retained the Ambrosian Rite; Toledo the Mozarabic; the French Churches their own uses, etc.

5 "Deus, in adjutorium meum intende,'

6 See " Dublin Review," Oct., 1866 (St. Pius V).

7 "The glory of the victory of Montcontour," writes his earliest biographer, " belongs undoubtedly to the Pope." The same might with equal truth be said of Jarnac.

8 A society of Dominican and Franciscan missionaries established by Innocent IV, and named, gloriously : "Societas Fratrum Peregrinantium propter Christum Pekin and Sultanieh each had an archbishop with seven suffragans.